This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of provisional patent application Ser. Nos. 60/333,085, filed Nov. 13, 2001 and 60/360,844, filed Feb. 28, 2002. This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/978,753 (now issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,569,630), filed Oct. 15, 2001, which was a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/608,706 (now issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,303,316), filed Jun. 30, 2000, the entire texts of which are incorporated herein by reference. The invention described herein was made with Government support under contracts F41622-96-D-008 and F41824-00-D-700 awarded by the Department of the Air Force and Department of Energy contract number DE-AC06-76RL01830. The Federal Government has a nonexclusive, nontransferable, irrevocable, paid-up license to practice or have practiced for or on behalf of the United States the subject invention.
1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to the field of biowarfare, biohazards and infectious agents. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods, apparatus and compositions for neutralizing biowarfare agents, biohazardous agents and/or infectious agents.
2. Description Of Related Art
There is a great need for effective methods and apparatus for neutralizing biological warfare agents, biohazardous agents, and/or infectious agents (hereafter, collectively referred to as “bioagents”). In particular, there is a great need for effective methods and apparatus for neutralizing Bacillus anthracis spores and other bioagents used in biological warfare.
Anthrax spores are among the most difficult bioagents to eradicate. Starting in the 1940s, the British government treated anthrax contamination of Guinard Island, a biological warfare test site, with 280 tons of formaldehyde over a 36 year period in order to decontaminate the site.
Present methods of anthrax spore neutralization are impractical in the contexts of mail delivery systems and decontamination of public areas. These include use of pressurized steam at elevated temperatures or topical treatment with highly caustic concentrated sodium hypochlorite solutions or with certain disinfecting foam products. None of these could be used to decontaminate, for example, letter mail without destroying it.
More recently, electron beam or electron accelerator technologies have been applied to bacterial neutralization. High doses of irradiation were required in order to inactivate anthrax spores. The technology is expensive and not readily adaptable to portable systems that could be easily deployed in the field. The energy levels required for decontamination also occasionally cause combustion or other destruction of the decontaminated material.
Thus, there is a need for a method to identify and neutralize bioagents in general, without substantial adverse impact on the contaminated object or the environment. There is a specific need for a portable, cost-effective apparatus, compositions and methods for neutralizing Bacillus anthracis spores.